A.batesii. Wild male. Djoum. Photo Courtesy of Ed Pürzl

After Father G.L. Bates, a Catholic missionary working in Cameroon.

An interesting point with the naming of this sp. is the addition of an extra 'i' at the end. Normally when naming a species after a peron it only has one 'i'. I looked into this & apparently it was considered 'common practice' on occaisions to add this extra 'i' in the early part of the 20th century. This practice was later dropped to the now more familiar single 'i'.

To be perfectly correct the fish should be pronounced 'bates eye' although 'bat ee see eye' is also used.

Boulenger G.A. 1911. (Fundulus batesii)

Descriptions of New African Cyprinodont Fishes.

Ann. & Mag. Nat. History. 8 (8) (44): p 261-262.

78.2 mm (Huber 1979)

• D = 14-15, A = 14-15 ll = 33-35 (Boulenger 1911)
• D = 15-16, A = 17, ll = 35-36 (Ahl 1924)
• D = 15-17, A = 15-17, ll = 33-36 (Pellegrin 1930)
• D = 15, A = 16-18, ll = 33-34 (Ahl 1935)
• D = 14-17, A = 14-19, ll = 33-39 (Scheel 1968)
• D = 16-17, A = 16-17, ll = 32-35 (+1-3) (Radda 1975)
• D = 16-18, A = 17-19, ll = 35-38 (+1-3) (Huber 1979)
• D = 14-16, A = 14-17, ll = 33-35 (Radda & Pürzl 1987)

n = 16-17, A = 30-34 (Scheel 1990)(variable between populations).

Raddaella

batesii

• Fundulus gularis (non Boulenger 1901) Pellegrin 1907
• Fundulus batesii Boulenger 1911
• Fundulus sjoestedti (non Lönnberg 1895) Boulenger 1915 (in part)
• Aphyosemion (Fundulopanchax) batesii Myers 1924
• Fundulus gustavi Ahl 1924
• Fundulopanchax batesii Meinken 1930
• Fundulus splendidus Pellegrin 1930
• Aphyosemion splendidum Myers 1933
• Aphyosemion gustavi Myers 1933
• Aphyosemion batesii Myers 1933
• Aphyosemion (Fundulopanchax) schreineri Ahl 1935
• Aphyosemion schreineri Radda 1963
• Aphyosemion batesi Clausen 1967
• Aphyosemion kunzi Radda 1975
• Aphyosemion spectobile Böhm 1975 (nomen nudum)
• Aphyosemion (Raddaella) splendidum Huber 1979
• Raddaella batesii Brosset 1982
• Fundulopanchax splendidus Lazara 1984

• Abong-Mbang
• Awae
• Ayos
• Bitye
• DjenasouméCSK 95/14
• Djoum (southern Cameroon)
• Djouyaya
• Ebiang (northern Gabon)
• Ebolowa
• Eboo Esatop GEMBLJ 03/7
• Ekombitié
• Garabinzam (northwestern Congo)
• Job
• Lisala - Bumba Road (northern Zaire)
• M'bandjok (southern Cameroon)
• M'balmayo (southeastern Cameroon)
• Mbandjok
• Mbankomo (Found on the western edge of the sp. distribution area. This form has a fairly plain body colouration.
• Mboama (northern Gabon)
• Mékambo (northern Gabon)
• Mitzic (Gabon 1995)
• Ndwoué CSK 95 / 15 (Gabon 1985)
• Nguémelendouka
• Nkpwane
• Sangmelima (southern Cameroon)
• Tchika Pika (northwestern Congo)
• Yop (Southeastern Cameroon)
• Zoubefam (southern Cameroon)
• CGE 90 / 30
• CGE 91 / 7
• GBG 92 / 13 ( = kunzi; GBG 93 / 13)
• GEMHS 00 / 24 (Ngueayong)
• PEG 98 / 3
• EQG 2006 / 2

Akoemetam M'balmayo - http://www.garysfishroom.us Gary Bartell's site

CSK collection codes - After recent (March 2002) contact with a BKA member who had problems with a sp. bought as CSK 95/15 Djenasoumé which conflicted with my records I contacted Geert van Huijgevoort who was one of the collectors who informed me that CSK 95/14 is Djenasoumé, whilst CSK 95/15 is Ndwoué.

Bitye on the Ja River (types 1 & 2) & Assobam on the Bumba River (types 3 - 8), Eastern Cameroon.

The Inland Plateau of Southern Cameroon & Ivindo Basin extending through northeastern Gabon into northern Congo..

Rafia swamps & shallow, stagnant pools. Also collected in rainforest brooks. Sympatric sp. include A.cameronense, A.cyanostictum, A.georgiae etc.

Scheel reported them difficult to find as they were found in shallow water on soft mud. He measured natural water to be pH 4.2 - 6.8, GH 0.1 - 1.0. These measurements were taken in the dry season.

Swamp near Sangmelima, Cameroon. Habitat of A.batesii.
Photo: Courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

Another part of the above swamp. Photo: Courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

Boulenger described Fp.batesii from specimens originating from Bitye, eastern Cameroon. He also had specimens from Assobam.

Boulenger placed fish collected from Akonolinga, Upper Nyong River, east Cameroon in 1915 under Fp.sjoestedti but they were considered to be A.batesii by Scheel.

Boulenger gives the following collectors / locations in his 1915 Catalogue.

• 1-2 (Types). Collected at Bitye, Ja River.
• 3-8 (Types). Collected at Assobam, Bumba River. Both localities collected by G.L.Bates.

Ahl reported 2 specimens from Sangmelima which had been collected from the Upper Lobo River of southern Cameroon. He described these as Fundulus gustavi but placed them closest to A.batesii.

In 1929 Pellegrin had this sp. from Nyabessan, east Cameroon. Apparently their are two locations in this part of Cameroon with the same location name & this colection is regarded as 'un-fixed'.

Scheel caught 'many individuals' between Akolinga & Abong Mbang, Upper Nyong drainage in 1966. Scheel reports in ROTOW 1 that they were restricted to swamps in this area. Adult fish only were found in the dry season. He also found A.exiguum as a sympatric sp.

Exact dates in this piece are confusing but are accurate I believe to within a year. Referenced BKA newsletters No.89 & 91 (anyone contemplating a collecting trip to southern Cameroon would do well to read this paper - 'Studies in South Cameroon' by Dr. A.C.Radda).
Collected by Dr.A.C.Radda in 1970 in a raffia swamp on the road 14 km south of Sangmelima to Olounou. These specimens however died in transit back to Europe.
In 1971 Radda returned to this site but could not find them. They were however, caught north of Sangmelima on the road to Mbalmayo (about halfway).
Fish were found in an arm of a stream only a few cm deep. Water flow was very slight. This stream was between 1-3 metres across.
Herzog collected the sp. in 1971 on the road from Makak to Mbalmayo near Akono.

In 1972 Radda again collected Fp.batesii from the same locality. This time some individuals from the 30 collected did make it back to Europe alive but failed to spawn. The majority of this shipment died through males fighting through being closely confined in plastic bags during transit.Males must be shipped in individual bags

This situation was also observed by Rod Roberts during a collecting trip to Cameroon in July 1983 where the Awae population was returned to the UK where it was distributed but failed to become established.

Radda again collected them in January 1983. This time,despite the area being heavily flooded was able to bring 3 specimens alive to Europe which later spawned.

History of the synonym Aphyosemion splendidus Pellegrin 1930

Fundulus splendidus Pellegrin 1930. ibid 55.
Size 7 cm (+3) Scheel 1968

Scheel in ROTOW 1 p 413 commented that A.batesii & A.splendidum are 'seperated by their meristic character, not colour patterns'.
D = 15-18, A = 15-17, D/A = 1-2A, ll = 33-36. Scheel 1968

Pellegrin described this sp. from 56 specimens collected by Baudon in the Sangha drainage. Additional material (23 specimens collected on the road between Suanké & Gara-Binzam) was collected in the Ivindo-Ogowe drainage area.
Scheel later examined the preserved fish collected by Baudon in the Sangha drainage & commented how they still retained much or their colour & fin filaments (in some males). The type specimens were preserved in alcohol.
The 23 specimens collected on the road between Suanké & Gara-Binzam were preserved in formalin & as such all red pigmentation was destroyed. These individuals were much darker than the 56 specimens collected by Baudon.

History of the synonym Aphyosemion (Fundulopanchax) schreineri Ahl 1935

Ahl described this sp. from 6 specimens collected by Schreiner from the upper reaches of the Lobo River close to Sangmelima, southern Cameroon.

History of the synonym Aphyosemion kunzi Radda 1975

Described by Radda from specimens collected by Herzog & Bochtler in 1972 & Bochtler et al in 1974, northern Gabon.

Fp.batesii is not a particularly easy fish to spawn & I must confess that all my attempts with wild fish from Awae failed to produce a single fry although I did manage to find a few eggs in bottom mops which failed to develop.

Alan Green had better results with water incubating the embryos from parents (males) which were up to 2" in length. Hatching occurred in 26 - 32 days (in water) with a temperature of 75°F. Males exceeding this length for some reason produced eggs with a thick outer shell which fry could not penetrate to hatch.

Best results have been reported using peat or peat fibre & drying this out for 2-6 months. A pre-incubation diapause of 5 months has been observed in wild fish. Fry are large enough on hatching to consume newly hatched brine shrimp & micro-worm.

Gunnar Asblom (AKA newsgroup comment) made the observation that eggs of this sp. cannot take quick drying & considered the drying of the biotope to be slow. He suggested storing the eggs on wet peat for the first 10-14 days & this reduces the loss rate to 10-50%.

A BKA member maintained them in the begining of the 1980's (these were possibly Awae as the dates fit nicely) and commented that they were easy to breed in 'very acid, very soft water' with a thin layer of peat & a lot of Java Fern.
A 90% water change was done weekly & straight after loads of eggs appeared. In the following 2 days egg production dropped to zero until the next water change.

Diapause has been reported up to 15 months in unhatched embryo's. Growth rate is rapid with a size of 2 cm being attained after 30 days. Males have been known to start colouring up at 35 - 45 days. Females are able to produce eggs at 2 months of age. (BKA newsletter No.210, February 1983).

1.4 mm

This sp. is a large & colourful Aphyosemion. Perhaps the most striking part is the area behind the pectoral fin which has a number of scales (variable between 5-9 in photo's I've seen) edged in very dark red which gives the appearance of a 'bleeding heart' pattern.

Reported to feed exclusively on water insects in the wild (?).

At one time A.batesii, A.splendidum & A.kunzi were part of a small group known as the batesii group. Research now believes these sp. to be one & the same so the group has collapsed into one sp.

It has been reported (BKA newsletter No.163, March 1979) that differing populations can be sterile (kunzi).